For all you ladies out there, have you ever thought that you are ugly? Have you ever looked in the mirror and hated what you saw? Do you compare yourself to seemingly perfect images of other women online? I’m pretty sure we all have. Keep reading because this blog is for you!
Have you ever seen someone you thought was absolutely gorgeous only to find out they struggle with self image just like you do? Where do these doubts and struggles come from? Yours, you think, are from cold hard evidence that you collected from the mirror over the years or perhaps the last time you looked in it. But what about the other woman whom you think look basically perfect? Today I’m going to talk about why you think you’re ugly and how to change that.
I believe it’s important to talk about this topic of external beauty because, how we see ourselves on the outside greatly affects how we see ourselves on the inside. And vice versa is true too. It is pretty much impossible to grow into becoming the person God created you to be if you hate your physical appearance. Remember, God created that too. He was also very intentional and thoughtful in all the details of your body…your height, your eye color, the texture of your hair. Those things might seem trivial to you, but God picked each one carefully just for you and who He made you to be. You are a masterpiece and you reflect your Creator.
So if all this is true, why do so many of us struggle with our appearance? I’m going to go through three reasons I believe this is the case.
The first reason I believe we struggle with our outward appearance is that we compare ourselves to others. We focus on what others have that we don’t have instead of appreciating and admiring what God created when He created us. Rather than spending our lives wishing we had someone else’s body, or hair, or eye shape, what if, instead, we take time and focus our energy on gratitude and awe of the beauty God gave us? Comparison robs us of joy if we play its game. And the crazy thing about it is, we’re not even comparable! God made each and every person so unique that it’s like comparing oranges with apples. You simply cannot compare!
On a side note, did you know that a lot of what you compare yourself to, especially on social media, isn’t even real?! We’ll talk about that in a moment!
The second reason you may think you’re ugly is that our culture and the beauty industry thrives off of your insecurities. I’m not trying to throw anyone under the bus. There are lots of wonderful brands out there that I appreciate and love. But it’s important to understand that, the more you feel insecure about yourself, the more likely you are to purchase products, surgeries, filters, etc. to make yourself feel better. It’s just a reality of the world we live in. And it’s important to understand that this is going on so that we don’t allow it to bring down our self confidence. If you are happy with your lip shape, don’t let an ad convince you they need to be larger. If you have always been content with your nose, don’t let an ad make you feel self conscious. Do you see how knowledge is power here?
Finally, the third reason you think you’re ugly is the cultural standard of beauty. Did you know that if you traveled to a different country, their definition of beauty would be different than yours? Here, in the USA, our standard of beauty has become so high that it’s impossible for real women to achieve. For anyone to meet the standard of beauty our culture has put on us, it will require alterations to their appearance. Think about it. Natural lash lengths are no longer long enough to be beautiful so now we “need” extensions. Natural lips are no longer full enough so we need lip filler now in order to be beautiful. The list goes on and on. But now you see why we all feel defeated and ugly! We all fall short as our natural selves!
But my question for you today is, why have we allowed culture to tell us that what God has created is not good enough? When God created Adam and Eve in the Garden, He said, “it is good”. When we listen to culture instead of to God, we find ourselves disagreeing with God because we find ourselves insisting that His creation, our bodies, is not good. Why have we let culture define beauty? Why have you let someone else decide for you which features of yours are “beautiful” and which ones are “flaws”? Beauty is subjective. It can not be defined. But it can be appreciated. You get to choose how you see yourself and how you see others. Today, I want to challenge you to take a journey toward beginning to see what you use to label as “flaws” as your own beautiful uniqueness.
Let’s recap Beautiful One:
When we compare ourselves to others, we rob ourselves of joy because we focus on what we don’t have rather than loving and enjoying what we do have.
There’s an entire industry that thrives off of your insecurity. Understanding this will help you not be swayed by campaigns meant to make you feel less than.
Our cultural standard of beauty is literally impossible to reach. We have to choose to listen to what God says about us rather than what culture tries to tell us.
Did any of this resonate with you today? I’d love to hear from you about a feature of yours that you have viewed as flawed but are now going to claim as your unique beauty! Leave me a comment!
If you are interested in leaning in more into understanding how you are uniquely and wonderfully made, I’ve made a quick style quiz that you can download for free and take! It’s a helpful tool to begin to understand your personal style type and how you stand out. You can download it here!
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